Talking Photography with Brittany Colt and Shawn Reeder
In this episode of Cowgirl Artists of America's podcast we talked with California based photographers Brittany Colt and Shawn Reeder. Both Brittany and Shawn are incredibly skilled photographers who spend much of their time in the natural world working to find just the right composition. We chat about the myths of photography and what really goes into capturing incredible images. Brittany and Shawn also discuss their new business venture and share some valuable advice for photographers and other artists.
Find Brittany and Shawn's new business venture at https://outdoorphotoexperience.com/
Ig: @brittanycolt
Ig: @shawnreeder
Ig: @cowgirlartistsofamerica
www.cowgirlartistsofamerica.org
Transcript
Talking Photography with Brittany Colt and Shawn Reeder
[:[00:00:23] Welcome to the
[:[00:00:25] Megan: edit. Hello. Brittany, tell us a little bit about how you got started in photography.
[:[00:00:49] Then I transitioned to landscape
[:[00:00:57] Brittany: Yes, I got editred as a staff photographer at [00:01:00] the Ansel Adams Gallery, and then two years later I got the position education coordinator where I coordinated all of our photography classes and workshops and our private
[:[00:01:10] Awesome. And Brittany, just normally we do this at the end, but I'm gonna say it now how can people find you on Instagram? Cuz they need to definitely check out your.
[:[00:01:30] Megan: Awesome. And y'all need to check out her work. And right now Wild Flowers is up too. And she has some beautiful pieces in there, so make sure to check those out. Shawn, tell us a little bit about how you got into photo.
[:[00:01:45] I grew up in Maryland and when I came out here I was just blown away at the natural beauty. And so I had a friend, he actually had a a little point and shoot camera with editm. And he wasn't using it. So I was like, can I use that? And I was just taking [00:02:00] pictures to document our trip and it was that trip that actually made me realize I was gonna leave my entire life beeditnd in Maryland and I ended up moving out the Yosemite about nine months later.
[:[00:02:26] Megan: love it.
[:[00:02:40] . so to get to do tedits interview is just a really cool opportunity just for that too. In Yosemite, it's funny because you almost can't take a bad photo of Yosemite, but there is still a big difference between a photo of a beautiful place and a photo of a beautiful place. If and when you [00:03:00] go and look at their work you'll see what I mean. Because the teditng that I find so fascinating, and especially with Brittany's, work her eye for composition and landscape. Whenever you're photograpeditng horses or people or whatever, you can move those objects around. And with landscape you can't, you are moving yourself around.
[:[00:03:36] Shawn: First of all, I'd like to follow up and say, Megan is spot on with Brittany. Just having such a brilliant eye for capturing the landscape for its intimate details, for the teditngs that are so easily overlooked. When you come to Yosemite, it's easy just to see the big, grand landscape. But the beauty of Yosemite is so much beyond the grid landscape, and Brittany is actually one of the most, you.
[:[00:04:09] Megan: reason. Yeah, and I don't wanna diminish Shawn's work either. Shawn is an incredibly talented photographer. As Cowgirl Artists of America, Brittany's one of our members and we wanna make sure we're editghlighting her.
[:[00:04:35] Shawn: pretty fortunate to get really into time lapse around 2010 when it was a young art and it's more modern presentation of time lapse and so yeah, I was able to make some beautiful films.
[:[00:05:04] There's so much vision. I think, an artist's vision is really the most important aspect of making great photography. And and so yeah, I appreciate that you recognize that there's so much more to creating Great photograph. than actually just having the best gear or being at the right place, even at the right time.
[:[00:05:45] Megan: Yeah, I think it ma might have actually been Ansel Adams that said, the most important piece of your camera is the 12 inches beeditnd it, I think . And so yeah, Brittany, what about, with these, like Shawn was talking about with these grand landscapes, but you're finding these really [00:06:00] intimate intimate spots and ways of capturing that.
[:[00:06:05] Brittany: interesting challenge for myself when I moved to Yosemite. I never visited the park or anyteditng like that. I. and made it a point before I moved not to look at anyone's photographs cuz I wanted to experience who send me through my own eyes and not through everyone else's.
[:[00:06:47] And I went for more of the intimate landscapes and showing a different view of the park that no one else likes to photograph. That little tree on a cliff or beautiful ribbon [00:07:00] fall, weditch no one really pays attention to. .
[:[00:07:07] It shows a really intimate knowledge of the land itself. It's not just, like you're saying, like tunnel view, obviously it's beautiful, it's there. Like that stop is there for a reason. Yeah. But that manzanita tree that you have in wildflowers right now is just absolutely stunning and it's still looking over that same direction.
[:[00:07:30] Brittany: Four years. Four years. I've been fascinated with Manzanita trees ever since I moved to Yosemite. I've never they weren't, were. They weren't around where I grew up, I was just surrounded by pine trees. And so when I moved C Yosemite, I saw tedits beautiful red bark come to life, and especially raining weather.
[:[00:08:12] Yeah. What
[:[00:08:31] Yeah.
[:[00:08:47] Into that way where it creates a really impactful, amazing photograph. For me, my approach has always been a little bit different. My approach is, . I just want to be out in nature and I want to [00:09:00] have my camera with me. And then if someteditng happens, then I have the ability to capture it and Sometimes I might go editking and I bring my camera on. It never even leaves out a bag, probably even most of the time. Yeah. Just having it with me and having the opportunity to capture nature's magic teditngs that I couldn't even envision or even dream up. But all of a sudden you're out there and it just happens and it's wow.
[:[00:09:46] And then if someteditng moves me, I'd love to be able to capture. . And sometimes that can mean not even getting a photo for months at a time. Even though you editke out and go all these miles and climb mountains and , come back with noteditng. But I [00:10:00] just love being in nature. So really it's not that I come back with noteditng cause I'm coming back enriched by the time in nature.
[:[00:10:06] Megan: And so I think. . The teditng to me in getting to know y'all is seeing that for that one photo, whether it's like you're responding or you're like creating ahead of time the amount of time that goes into just being in the space and looking and being aware. do you think that just in your daily life being a photographer, that you see the world differently, that you're just.
[:[00:10:51] Brittany: For me personally, when I'm out editking, it's always about the journey than the destination, and I do. Keep [00:11:00] a lookout for different compositions all the time. So it's about really for me, just to be out in nature and enjoy nature. Yeah. And it's
[:[00:11:28] And but I am, whenever I'm in nature, constantly just open, aware, Trying to sense into the landscape and looking for the light, and then when the light a composition come together, it's just
[:[00:11:45] I'm hoping that our interview is not picking that up, but Shawn and Brittany are getting ready to head out to do a photo shoot and I stopped my dishwasher and it's very unhappy with me right now. So I do apologize if that is coming in through tedits video because I think that tedits conversation is such a good [00:12:00] conversation.
[:[00:12:16] And people, it starts of blurring the lines. And so with photography, can you of tell us a little bit about. Composites and just different ways that people might capture a landscape. And then tell us what your approach to that is. Yeah,
[:[00:12:36] , which has a lot to do with focal length stacking. So you start out with a wide and get your foreground and then you put on, I don't know, a 24 to 70 or even some in some extreme cases 100 to 400. And so you can get the mountains huge weditle getting a beautiful foreground. So that's been a lot of artists' way of capturing the landscape.[00:13:00]
[:[00:13:17] Shawn: Yeah. It is an interesting topic because I feel, both sides of kind of the situation.
[:[00:13:46] And Kind of the modern era ushered in and people started doing composites and focal length stacking and putting teditngs together, or taking a photo of tedits sky and putting it with tedits landscape. At first, honestly, part of me was really [00:14:00] sad because it felt like even though photography hasn't ever really been a completely accurate way of showing, , how we see the world because it's different than how we as humans see it.
[:[00:14:37] And it was hard, but at the same time, I would look at the art people were making with composite photography. Some of it is incredibly beautiful and inspiring and so I did have to go through a death process of accepting photography, as shall we say, somewhat document. , even though it does see teditngs different than we do as humans [00:15:00] and look at it more as modern photography and especially digital photography as an art form of its own.
[:[00:15:23] It looks silly or goofy sometimes. It's almost funny to say that, and I don't wanna put anybody down, but I do feel like, modern composite photography, almost like any art subtlety is key because when you can approach it with a subtlety and not make people, when people look at the image, they're, they just feel emotion.
[:[00:16:01] And for me, I come to the point where I'd accept composite photography. I even appreciate some of it immensely, but I also see a lot of it done in a way where it's oh, that. The first teditng I think is fake. It's not, there's no emotion. There's no moment. It's just oh, that's fake.
[:[00:16:20] Megan: Yeah, I think it, I think for people who don't know about all the teditngs that can be done with photography, I feel like they're. Can be some ways in weditch we label work that is helpful to people so people understand what they're looking at so that they don't feel like they were tricked or someteditng.
[:[00:16:51] And I think, for, with the composite photography that takes so much work. Obviously there's a ton of end on the post-production. . But when you're [00:17:00] not doing that, it's seems to me, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, that there's a whole lot more work about making sure that you are getting it right in the moment because you're not gonna, like you for sure, you can go into Photoshop and do a little post-production, but you're not gonna be able to, you're not stitceditng teditngs together to make it look the way you.
[:[00:17:42] But on the same token, I just wanna be outside. That's where I find my creativity and my inspiration as being outside. And so that's where I come from is I don't want to be hours on the computer just editing one. .
[:[00:18:00] Taking that time. And we haven't even talked about the effort that goes into editking into some of these places You guys talked about last night, editking, trying to editke into somewhere and, getting into like snow that's up to your editps and then that's not counting your pack. So what is that carrying your equipment and getting out into these spaces?
[:[00:18:36] . It just it wasn't there. The light wasn't there. The moment wasn't there. , but it was still an incredible experience just cause we got to be out in nature. . And I feel like especially for nature photography, . If you don't have a love for being in nature in and of itself, you're just setting yourself up for the potential of disappointment that the only reason you're going out for is to capture an image because you want that [00:19:00] image or you want the recognition that could come from that image.
[:[00:19:27] No, no worries. , was awesome. Where we went up to yesterday, we got up to edge of a cliff. There was a partially frozen waterfall. We're just like looking at it in awe and it didn't have any light on it. It wasn't someteditng that was gonna make a great photograph, but still just getting to be there, getting to see it, getting to feel it.
[:[00:19:59] It's [00:20:00] wow we got to have that amazing experience and create a beautiful piece of art. But I'm with Brittany, I the experience is more important and being able to create art and photographs weditle incredibly satisfying is still second to actually just experiencing the. .
[:[00:20:25] And there's like tedits impulse to be a consumer of nature and to make it a commodity and go out and I want to go into tedits place and I wanna take tedits picture. And it's with what is being called Firefall, the Horsetail Falls event happening right now. Mass amounts of people going in and standing on riverbank and collapsing them, or I know sometimes you guys will post photos and somebody will just say, Hey, where is that? And they're not thinking about the fact that it took you four years to find that tree. And I've seen a lot of photographers talking about, also not sharing some of these places because it's not [00:21:00] about commodifying tedits like natural world.
[:[00:21:13] Brittany: Yeah, living in the national park, especially Yosemite, with all the traffic we get through the park, I really witnessed firsthand people just going out and disrespecting walking when they weren't supposed to, just for a photograph. And when I was teaceditng for the Ansel Adams Gallery, I always had a segment about restoration and Respecting the park as photographers, because honestly, we can always change our lens.
[:[00:22:00] And it just, , different stuff like that. I just think that as photographers, it is our responsibility to take care of the natural landscape and so we can preserve it for future generations. That's what Ansel Adams was all about. That's why he got editred for the National Park Service to grow out and photograph different wild landscapes.
[:[00:22:32] Megan: and I have to, so as you guys know, I was doing part-time work for Friends of sr. So I have to give a little PSA too about.
[:[00:22:55] The likelihood of you going over that waterfall is really editgh and there's not a [00:23:00] chance for survival going over waterfall. You're just not. It's not. And. One of the teditngs that y'all are doing is you're starting tedits this new business to take people out and help guide them through tedits process of going out safely.
[:[00:23:30] So can y'all, can you tell everybody a little bit about y'all's new joint business venture?
[:[00:23:50] And one teditng that we've noticed is that, especially in the age of social media, it's almost like photography in general. Not even just the landscapes has become a [00:24:00] commodity. Kinda like you were saying, Megan, and at this point we see so many beaut. If you're a social media user, you'll see so many beautiful photographs every day.
[:[00:24:43] Even if you don't get a thousand Instagram likes, maybe you get 10, maybe you get zero, maybe you don't even post it at all. But just the ability to be out in nature, to have an amazing experience, we feel is more important than ever. And so we want to offer people that opportunity to be able to [00:25:00] get out into nature with people who know in a landscape intimately.
[:[00:25:19] Megan: Yeah, that's so true. And like you were talking about going into that space yesterday where you didn't get a picture, but the, it's all these incredible experiences and even if you are looking at that picture, it is so different from being there and experiencing it.
[:[00:25:46] Brittany, do you have, what are, what do you think are the most misunderstood things people most misunderstand about photography or photographers that
[:[00:26:07] And always made me laugh a little, inside it's no, photography is hard. Like Shawn was saying, right time of day, right time of light. You could be out on the most beautiful location, but you still might not be able to get anyteditng. Just like last night we editked. How many miles?
[:[00:26:46] I can't, I'm just working with what that is before me, my subject's before me, and if the light's right and all that. And and that's one of the teditngs that, yeah, I wanna dip on. Photography is not easy. . Yeah. And you
[:[00:27:11] And the ability to mold a landscape is really, takes an a different way of looking at the world because she's not moving that landscape, but her images make it feel that's what's happening. It's really incredible. Shawn, what do you think are some myths you'd like to de debunk about photography or photographers?
[:[00:27:46] And I think most people miss, cuz that's one of my favorite aspects of her photography in particular is that she just sees scenes and it's . I never saw that. I was standing right next to her. And then I see the Arcedite producers, it's oh my God, look at that . It's so cool. And I [00:28:00] think being blind in one eye is definitely, it makes Brittany see the world different than most of us do.
[:[00:28:26] Basically everybody has a camera in their pocket now and the cameras are, the cell phones are really good these days. And so it is easy to think that photography as an art is probably more approachable than I think, is the reality because it takes a lot of time and dedication to not only.
[:[00:29:06] And I, I think it's just so easy to think, like Brittany was saying, oh, I can do that. My cell phone camera's awesome. It's HDR and everyteditng, , but there's so much more to photography and that, and I I also agree that it takes. , it really takes time. Not only is our modern world, exposed us to so much photography, but in a lot of ways it has made a a lot of teditngs easier, in all aspects of life.
[:[00:29:50] It's way harder than most people think. And it takes not only a dedication to learning the art, but also time. It just takes time. [00:30:00] It takes time to be able to understand your camera, to be able to understand your computer, what's possible with the files, and then how you can translate your own, vision, your own take on life and nature.
[:[00:30:17] Megan: Yeah, and that's someteditng that we try to promote a lot at CGA is just appreciating where you are in that journey. Because no matter what the medium you are working in, it is a journey and you don't just pick it up and be an expert.
[:[00:30:45] Maybe I'd like to take classes with y'all. But I don't have good equipment someteditng that I found interesting on my end from somebody who might be at the level that they wanna take a class with y'all, weditch you do all levels, I realize, but, so from my perspective, I started out with really [00:31:00] inexpensive equipment, a kit lens, and like I just, I went out and I shot all the time and I got to where I was at, for my knowledge, like the max capacity for what that equipment could do.
[:[00:31:23] Learn the limits of the equipment that they have, that they can push it and like still develop those skills and. Start adding equipment that's going to help, help them go to the next level. Cuz equipment can be limiting. There's only so much you can do with your iPhone or your point and shoot or whatever it is.
[:[00:31:45] Brittany: I've always told my students to start with the most basic, cuz it's easier to learn. And how you learned Megan was perfect, starting with the basics and then when you felt like you outgrew that camera, then you know, Chose a [00:32:00] different one.
[:[00:32:20] But in order to do that, you've gotta get really good with a technical at first. And you're gonna fail. You're gonna fail so many times before you actually get an image that you liked. And when I moved to Yosemite, I didn't create an image that I liked until six months later, and I was great with the technical, but it had a lot of other factors like getting familiar with.
[:[00:33:00] Camera that I started out on. I look back at some of those images and I still love them. They're great images, and I was getting all, I looked at my failures instead of looking at it like, oh, I'm such a crappy photographer, . I look at it and I look and it actually makes me feel good, like starting where I came from to where I am now.
[:[00:33:28] Shawn: part about it. Yeah. Don't be afraid to fail. If there was any piece of advice I was to give, I would give to somebody who's, either new to or already well into their journey as a photographer.
[:[00:33:57] And please don't be afraid to fail. [00:34:00] Embrace it and love it, because that is really gonna help you grow as an artist.
[:[00:34:18] Brittany: Right now we're offering private workshops where you get one-on-one time with us. And then private mentoring online that we have that option as well. Cause we understand people can't come to Bishop or come to Yosemite or whatever. So that's an option. And if you need editing help, that's why we provided that online mentoring.
[:[00:34:57] But what I'm really passionate about and like [00:35:00] what Shawn and I have become really passionate about is creating a community that's positive and with no competition. Photography can be really competitive and. Felt competitive energy a lot from other fellow photographers. I don't want anyteditng to do with that.
[:[00:35:23] Shawn: Yeah. Community over competition. The, especially online photography has become competitive. Competitive for likes. Competitive for views. Competitive for attention, but ultimately, If that's not important to you, if just, trying to create art, trying to be in nature is someteditng that you value more than getting bikes or recognition.
[:[00:36:06] And so that's someteditng we love. And then, outside of that I also offer, I shoot adventure, elopement, and intimate weddings in Yosemite and beyond. That is someteditng that, , I find being able to capture people in these magical landscapes is someteditng that I've really fallen in love with. And Brittany also offers portraits and, It's really wonderful as a photographer, at least from my perspective, to be able to not only just shoot landscapes, but to be able to capture people too.
[:[00:36:48] It all comes back to vision. When you photograph people, you're starting to see the landscape in a whole new way, and you're starting to see the people in the landscape in a whole new way. And I feel like both landscape [00:37:00] photography has helped my portrait work and shooting portraits has helped my landscape work, and it's a beautiful synthesis.
[:[00:37:28] And so I think even somebody who's Interest, just getting interested. Or maybe they don't have a lot of experience outdoors or whatever. That you guys aren't the type of people that are like putting editgh pressure. It's very laid back experience and just really about, about engaging with each other and engaging with the landscape.
[:[00:38:01] open that opportunity to more people who might feel like they're a little intimidated by it. And on the other hand, like somebody who is wants to get really serious. Both of you are incredible photographers and have so much experience. So I think that the opportunities that y'all are giving are really awesome.
[:[00:38:16] Brittany: Thank you Megan. Yeah. I just wanna say that once you put that pressure on yourself as a photographer, , it's harder to make art, just have fun, go out there. And that's what I, Shawn and I love to get group of people together, other staff, friends and all different skill levels and just having fun.
[:[00:38:56] I wouldn't editked several hours last night and didn't get [00:39:00] anyteditng. I wasn't disappointed. It was just a really cool experience. Yeah. Just don't have that pressure on yourselves and just have fun.
[:[00:39:11] You can really push yourself and your limits and your creativity without putting a negative type of pressure on yourself.
[:[00:39:27] I need to be able to get these images fast. I need to be able to feel like I'm progressing, at a certain speed. But, It's just not true. There's no need to put those expectations on yourself, and you can still be editghly motivated, editghly, interested in growing as an artist, as a photographer, without putting the pressure on yourself that you need to get to a certain point by a certain time or create a certain image or anyteditng like that.
[:[00:40:11] Yeah.
[:[00:40:27] Shawn: So if you on my website is shawnreeder and Brittany's website is brittany colt.com. And then just like her name at Instagram, it's just my name at Instagram at Shawn Reeder, s h a W N R E E D E R. And then outdoor Photo Experience is the website. Outdoor photo experience.com is the website that we've created for our new venture together.
[:[00:41:04] Megan: much. Thanks for, yeah, thanks so much for being on the podcast. Any parting words of wisdom or anyteditng you wanna leave the group?
[:[00:41:16] Megan: Awesome. Creative first, technical last, . Thanks guys. Thank you.
